Investing in quality dividend stocks with a sustainable payout can help you begin a low-cost passive income stream for life. It’s crucial to identify companies in recession-resistant sectors and with strong financials that enable them to maintain and even grow dividends over time.
One such TSX stock is Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund (TSX: BPF.UN). Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund owns the intellectual property of Boston Pizza, Canada’s popular casual dining chain, combining family restaurant and sports bar concepts.
The fund generates revenue by collecting 4% royalties from franchise sales across Boston Pizza restaurants in its royalty pool, creating a direct correlation between restaurant performance and fund income.
Boston Pizza maintains competitive advantages through its unique counter-positioning as both a family restaurant and a sports bar, making it difficult for competitors to replicate. As one of Canada’s largest full-service chains, it benefits from economies of scale in purchasing and operations, while its established brand recognition drives customer loyalty and reduces marketing costs.
The extensive franchise set-up creates network effects, enhancing brand presence and facilitating best practice sharing. Boston Pizza focuses on growth through brand reimaging with modernized restaurant designs, menu innovation including plant-based options, and digital transformation, improving online ordering and delivery services.
This multi-pronged approach targets evolving consumer preferences while leveraging the Fund’s scalable royalty model, whereby increased restaurant sales directly translate to higher fund distributions.
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How did the TSX dividend stock perform in Q1 2025?
In Q1 2025, Boston Pizza Royalties reported franchise sales of $231.1 million, an increase of 4.1% year over year, while same-store restaurant sales grew by 4.4%. The strong performance was driven by effective promotional campaigns, including Pasta Tuesdays and NFL playoff promotions, alongside sustained momentum in takeout and delivery services.
The fund’s royalty income increased to $9.2 million in Q1 from $8.9 million in the prior year, reflecting the higher franchise sales from its 372-restaurant royalty pool.
Despite strong operational metrics, distribution sustainability remains a key concern. The fund’s payout ratio increased to 100.2% from 96.8% year-over-year, with a trailing 12-month ratio of 100.7%.
Distributable cash remained flat at $7.3 million, resulting in unchanged distributable cash per unit of $0.344. The royalty income fund maintained its monthly distribution of $0.115 per unit, yielding 7% annually.
President Jordan Holm emphasized the brand’s sports-focused strategy, noting strong momentum from Canadian teams’ playoff runs and successful promotional initiatives. The company completed six restaurant renovations during the quarter and has development projects in the pipeline, building on last year’s four new restaurant openings.
Is the dividend stock a good buy?
Analysts estimate adjusted earnings per share to narrow from $1.50 in 2024 to $1.39 in 2025. However, earnings are forecast to increase to $1.79 per share in 2026. In the last 12 months, Boston Pizza has paid shareholders an annual dividend of $1.38 per share, up from $0.78 per share in 2021.
While Boston Pizza offers a tasty dividend yield in 2025, investors should note that it reduced these payouts in 2011 and suspended them entirely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Boston Pizza launched new playoff promotions for Q2 and plans menu updates for June. While management remains optimistic about sustained growth through sports partnerships and innovation, investors should monitor the elevated payout ratio and its implications for distribution sustainability amid an evolving economic landscape.
